Kurtz, J. R. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2020

Single-cell profiling of Ebola virus infection in vivo reveals viral and host transcriptional dynamics

Ebola virus (EBOV) causes epidemics with high case fatality rates, yet remains understudied due to the challenge of experimentation in high-containment and outbreak settings. To better understand EBOV infection in vivo, we used single-cell transcriptomics and CyTOF-based single-cell protein quantification to characterize peripheral immune cell activity during EBOV infection in rhesus monkeys. We obtained 100,000 transcriptomes and 15,000,000 protein profiles, providing insight into pathogenesis. We find that immature, proliferative monocyte-lineage cells with reduced antigen presentation capacity replace conventional circulating monocyte subsets within days of infection, while lymphocytes upregulate apoptosis genes and decline in abundance. By quantifying viral RNA abundance in individual cells, we identify molecular determinants of tropism and examine temporal dynamics in viral and host gene expression. Within infected cells, we observe that EBOV down-regulates STAT1 mRNA and interferon signaling, and up-regulates putative pro-viral genes (e.g., DYNLL1 and HSPA5), nominating cellular pathways the virus manipulates for its replication. Overall, this study sheds light on EBOV tropism, replication dynamics, and elicited immune response, and provides a framework for characterizing interactions between hosts and emerging viruses in a maximum containment setting.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Characteristic and quantifiable COVID-19-like abnormalities in CT- and PET/CT-imaged lungs of SARS-CoV-2-infected crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is causing an exponentially increasing number of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) cases globally. Prioritization of medical countermeasures for evaluation in randomized clinical trials is critically hindered by the lack of COVID-19 animal models that enable accurate, quantifiable, and reproducible measurement of COVID-19 pulmonary disease free from observer bias. We first used serial computed tomography (CT) to demonstrate that bilateral intrabronchial instillation of SARS-CoV-2 into crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis) results in mild-to-moderate lung abnormalities qualitatively characteristic of subclinical or mild-to-moderate COVID-19 (e.g., ground-glass opacities with or without reticulation, paving, or alveolar consolidation, peri-bronchial thickening, linear opacities) at typical locations (peripheral>central, posterior and dependent, bilateral, multi-lobar). We then used positron emission tomography (PET) analysis to demonstrate increased FDG uptake in the CT-defined lung abnormalities and regional lymph nodes. PET/CT imaging findings appeared in all macaques as early as 2 days post-exposure, variably progressed, and subsequently resolved by 6-12 days post-exposure. Finally, we applied operator-independent, semi-automatic quantification of the volume and radiodensity of CT abnormalities as a possible primary endpoint for immediate and objective efficacy testing of candidate medical countermeasures.

microbiology↗